Lincoln Reveals the 2013 MKZ

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As the band hit a crescendo and a live sand artist finished his performance by shaping the Lincoln logo with a few swipes of his hands, Lincoln unveiled the 2013 MKZ to the world last night. It was all rather over-the-top, but for Ford and Lincoln the MKZ is a pretty big deal. The 2013 MKZ is the first vehicle wholly designed by Lincoln Design Director Max Wolff and his team in their new Lincoln studio. It's also supposed to embody the future of the diminished luxury brand.

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Surprisingly, the 2013 MKZ stays true to the concept showed at Detroit earlier this year. Most notably, the massive sliding glass roof panel that many feared would be jettisoned during the transition from concept to an actual production model has survived. The panel can be be operated while moving at any speed and is 100 SPF to prevent occupants from getting baked alive. It also looks pretty great.

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The heavily raked split-wing grille carried over as well and will be the grille for all future Lincolns, Wolff said in an interview after the reveal. Speaking of future models, Lincoln also announced that it plans to unleash seven brand new or refreshed models in the next three years. Wolff likened the future Lincoln lineup to siblings in a family, with each member needing to express its own identity. So we'll probably see variations on the MKZ design language, which Wolff refers to as "elegant simplicity."

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But back to the MKZ. When asked what he is most proud of on the car, Wolff said the "center console is really something pretty special." By making the shifter a push button design?probably the most innovative part of the interior?the design team had more freedom for packaging. Many of the controls on the console are capacitive and operated with a swiping motion, and the center stack is fairly slim. The car is all teched out, coming standard with a 10.1-inch LCD instrument cluster and an 8-inch LCD touchscreen with MyLincoln Touch and Sync. Also notable are the active noise control within the cab and rear inflatable seat belts, first seen in Ford's 2011 Explorer.

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As for powertrains, the MKZ will have three options:? 2-liter I-4 with 240 hp and? 270 lb-ft of torque; 3.7-liter V-6? with 300 hp and 277 lb-ft of torque; 2.0-liter I-4/Electric Hybrid with 188 hp (combined)? 141 hp (engine only) and 129 lb-ft of torque. The hybrid is available in front-wheel drive only, but the other two engines have all-wheel-drive as an option. Lincoln says the hybrid's project fuel efficiency of 41 city/36 highway should make it the most fuel efficient premium sedan. The I-4 with FWD and V-6 with AWD are projected to get 22 city/33 highway and 18/26, respectively.

Lincoln did not provide any pricing information or when the vehicle will officially go on sale, but it will be interesting to see how the MKZ is received. When first unveiled in Detroit, the concept received mixed reviews, and there have been no significant changes since. To put it mildly, Lincoln needs a homerun on this one.

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